# Considerations for Building an API Developer Portal


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The tech world has been noticeably trending towards developer portals or API portals for some time. They serve companies as advertising, documentation, and management of software such as APIs, services or even data-driven products for their customers.

As the demand for these services is increasing, solutions from developers and API portals are also on the rise. It is similar to the App Store, which was set up to allow iPhone users to download and use apps. Companies use it to easily share information and data in real time across distributed cloud and mobile applications and make their APIs available to a large developer community.

Here you will learn everything you need to develop such a portal.

## From API Portal to API Management

To understand the value of API portals, you need to see them as part fo the larger process of API management. Developer-only or API portals are one of the most important practices to adopt for API management because they typically provide API documentation and onboarding processes for developers. API management is about centralized control of your API program, including analytics, access control, monetization, and developer workflows.

Other features that such management should have are:

**API Gateway**: An API gateway is the only point of entry for every customer. This gateway also describes how these clients are dealing with APIs by utilizing these regulations.

**API Lifecycle Management**: APIs need the possibility of being operated throughout their lifecycle. In this regard, one can say that [Red Hat 3scale API Management](https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/jboss-middleware/3scale) is the number one application for API lifecycle management.

**API Analytics**: One has to keep an eye on their APIs at all times, including which API is accessed by which client/application and how often these calls occur. In order to do this, one has to also know whether APIs have difficulties and what the reasons for these difficulties are.


[Source](https://www.tibco.com/reference-center/what-is-api-analytics)

**API Monetization Support**: Earn money by giving customers access to the microservers behind the APIs. This can be done by coming up with a contract between you and the user. You can define these contracts based on certain metrics, for example on the amount of API calls. Your clients can be distinguished between various access levels that differ in the level of service quality.

One of the most noted and influential portals has been the [Backstage developer portal](https://www.getport.io/blog/backstage-all-you-need-to-know-about-this-developer-portal). Backstage is an end-to-end developer experience platform that helps companies manage and operate their large-scale services. The company provides a central place for developers to come together and work on the code, documentation, and collaboration necessary to build these services.

Backstage has been incredibly influential in how we think about developer portals, and many of the ideas from Backstage have been adopted by other companies.

## How Does API Management Work?
API management is concerned with managing, regulating, securing, and monitoring APIs in a risk-free and solid environment. Furthermore, API management provides an increasing amount of internal and external APIs that are used by an organization with its respective control. In this regard, professional API management is undoubtedly regarding the needs of every involved API stakeholder such as the API publisher, API developer, app developer and API consumer. 

### API Publisher

This is the organization (or department) that contributes APIs to the ones who need them. The publisher is also concerned with administering and monitoring APIs and their respective usage.  

### API Developer

Developers are responsible for the creation of one or several APIs.

### App Developer

They use the API that has been developed, provided, and maintained by the API Publisher and API developer. The app developer either integrates it into their existing application, or they develop a whole new app based on the provided API. As a result, they are adding benefits. 

### API consumer

The API consumer makes use of an API without actually integrating it into an app that has been developed for it. For example, a marketing department utilizes a Facebook API to take a closer look at social media responses to certain actions. This is done by individual, irregular [requests](https://www.seeburger.com/de/info/apis-von-api-management-bis-api-solution/) to the provided API, based on the need.

## Building API Management That Supports the API Lifecycle

When the question of what aspects a portal should cover arises, the lifecycle can be a helpful solution since it is a widespread standard, so to speak, and certainly a good reference. The steps and topics vary depending on the model and source, but basically the following three overarching themes are important.


[Example of an API Life Cycle](https://www.mulesoft.com/resources/api/what-is-full-lifecycle-api-management)

### Design

In this regard, you should ask yourself various questions, like: What functions should or should not be in the API? Who should have access to it? What is the expected volume?...

### Implementation

Here, you will set up the actual API, test it properly and document it in an API catalog defining guidelines like mediation, traffic management, and security.

### Management

The focus here lies on monitoring the API and, of course, on continuous improvement, including through customer requests. 

## Summary

In conclusion, one can state that API developer portals have a great influence in today's technical architecture of organizations. They help by easily providing access to APIs in order to establish great applications or other technical products for customers and clients. An API developer portal contains several different factors such as API analytics or API lifecycle management.

There are also different roles that come into play when looking into such a portal. In this regard, one could also say that there are similarities between between an API developer portal and the Backstage developer portal. Both provide needed APIs in an easy manner to everyone who needs them.